Tuesday, October 13, 2009

In the end, New York's historic first world trade center on Pearl Street razed for a condo, parking lot and goodburger

Well, nearly six years after first hearing about the project, the destruction of the historic swath of 211-215 Pearl Street between Gold Street and Maiden Lane in the Financial District — home to the city's first world trade center — is nearly complete. First, a brief bit of history about this space
per Pearl Street Revival:

The three neo-Classical business buildings at 211-215 Pearl St. are the last remnant of the Pearl Street dry goods district of the early 19th century, and are a valuable relic of New York and the nation's early commercial history. The city sold a very large portion of what commercializing Americans bought. The combination of overseas commerce and burgeoning domestic trade established New York as the commercial capitol (not just the biggest seaport) of the United States after 1815, and Pearl Street was the center of that trade.

211-215 Pearl Street is also tribute to merchants and manufacturers like William Colgate "who's entrepreneurial daring would set New York on course for becoming the world-class city that it is today".


Anyway. The Rockrose-owned condo is up and it appears to be running. Now just the small matter of the ground floor retail. Which appears to be set with coming-soon signage for a double food whammy — goodburger and a Pret deli.






As Pearl Street Revival noted, "Pearl Street was considered the city’s richest street and the highest valued mercantile establishments were located on this particular block."



Now, of course, it looks like any other block of a suburbified city.



For further reading:

3 Buildings From 1830's Threatened By a Tower (New York Times)

Lot still vacant where Pearl St. artists lost homes (Downtown Express)

Shaky Pearl Street Building Now Even More Endangered (Curbed)
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2 comments:

  1. pinheadOctober 13, 2009 at 2:50 PM

    So sad. Compared with other major Northeast cities, so little of NYC's early physical history is preserved. It's tragic to lose any building of this era, even if it's not particularly significant from a historical or architectural perspective. Of course, the need to tear down and rebuild bigger and better has always been part of NYC's personality.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousOctober 14, 2009 at 1:42 PM

    The building is now owned by . . . TF Cornerstone? Mostly the same people, I think, but not Rockrose anymore.

    ReplyDelete

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